Ste-Genny's Deaf Ministry

In January 2008 a special FM based Assistive Listening System was installed in our sanctuary. Sound that is sent to the speakers is also transmitted wirelessly to personal receivers. We have a number of these personal receivers with their own volume control and lightweight headphones that people can borrow. This allows people to listen while greatly reducing background noise. To quote one user: "This was the first time in a long time that I was able to hear everything." If you need one or like to try one, please ask one of the ushers.

For those who are interested in the technical details, the system we have is a Telex SoundMate SM-2. The output from our sound system is input into the base transmitter (ST-300), which transmits the signal to individual receivers (SR-50), operating at a frequency of 75.3 MHz.

Our Minister, Rev. Ian Smith, used to work with disabled and deaf children prior to becoming a minister. He thus knows sign language very well. In the mid nineties a family with a deaf child started to worship with us. Another family with a deaf child joined a few years later. So, whenever a deaf child was present, Rev. Smith would also sign the children's story. His sign language training thus came in "handy" (the picture on the left showing all the fingers of two hands is the universal symbol indicating that sign language interpretation is provided).

Rev. Smith has offered some basic sign language training, that was taken by a number of members of the congregation, including some Sunday School teachers. Unfortunately, as with any language, if you don't practice it, you lose it. If you don't know sign language or want to find out more about it, selected American Sign Language (ASL) resources are given here.

During winter 2007 Rev. Smith taught Confirmation Class to three youths, Darryl, Jerome and Colleen. Teaching confirmation class was a bit of a challenge for Rev. Smith as he acted as sign language interpreter at the same time, to explain to Colleen orally what Darryl and Jerome were saying (or signing) and to explain to Darryl and Jerome in sign language what Colleen was saying. All three confirmands were confirmed during our April 1, 2007 Palm Sunday worship service. A sign language interpreter provided sign language interpretation of that whole service.

Christmas Eve 2007 we started a special program where we provided American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation of our Sunday Service at a regular basis, namely about twice a month. This program came to an end Christmas Eve 2010, as we currently don't have any deaf people taking part in our activities. We thank Katherine for her dedication, commitment and joy in providing this special ASL service.

Acknowledgment

We acknowledge the special financial support we received in 2008, 2009 and 2010 from Montreal Presbytery, Erskine and American Trust Fund.